Sir Alex Ferguson insisted last night that Manchester City will not pose a threat to his team even if they succeed in the greatest transfer coup in the history of British football by signing Kaka from Milan.

The Manchester United manager argued that even if City land the Brazil international for £100m, his priorities lie elsewhere. "With respect, Manchester City are not where Liverpool are or where Chelsea are," he said. "You can only worry about the teams that are taking money from your pocket or taking a trophy off you. For years, Arsenal and ourselves contested the league and all I was interested in was ­Arsenal, what injuries and suspensions they had – and when we played them. Now it is Liverpool and Chelsea, although Arsenal will come back – they will make a fist of it this season, no question."

Ferguson accepts that the desire of City's owners to create a global brand with some of the world's best players will not go away, although it may be a problem that his successor will inherit. "It depends how many players City buy. Their thinking will be to lay down markers. It will be Robinho first and then Kaka after that and that will encourage other players to join. But the one thing about Manchester United is that it doesn't matter what happens, you will always face a challenge. It doesn't matter where it comes from, you have to accept it. And you have to accept it because that is part of managing ManchesterUnited."

Milan's coach, Carlo Ancelotti, confirmed that City's offer for Kaka was "much bigger than the others we had received" in the past, as he contemplated life without the midfielder. "The goals of this club will not change, with or without Kaka," he said, adding that City's bid was still being weighed up.

"My personal wish is to be able to coach Kaka for many more years because he is a great player, crucial for this team."

Kaka's spokesman, Diogo Kotscho, said: "Kaka knows about the proposal but he has not talked to Milan yet. His father, who represents him in all negotiations, has not talked to anyone yet. I spoke to him [Kaka] earlier and he is calm. He doesn't get involved in negotiations. The idea is to stay but this depends on the negotiations between Milan and City."

City look set to land another target after making a £13m offer for Hamburg's Dutch holding midfielder, Nigel de Jong.

About this article

Premier League: Ferguson dismisses City threat despite move for Kaka

This article appeared on p1 of the Sport section of the Guardian
on Friday 16 January 2009.
It was published on
the Guardian website
at 19.26 EST on Friday 16 January 2009.
It was last modified at 09.13 EST on Saturday 17 January 2009.
It was first published at 19.05 EST on Friday 16 January 2009.